Seòmar agus comataidhean

The Scottish Government is committed to improving the lives of trans and non-binary people in Scotland. Trans people continue to suffer poorer outcomes relative to the wider population, and this needs to change.

We are committed to ensuring that all children and young people are supported in school and are able to reach their full potential, including transgender young people. We committed to develop guidance to support schools to do this and will publish guidance shortly.

All viruses naturally mutate over time and therefore it is important that we spot any changes quickly to understand the potential risk any variant may pose. We already have a comprehensive surveillance infrastructure in place, harnessing genomic sequencing and collaboration across scientific bodies to continually assess the risk of new variants emerging. Variants are declared to be under investigation or of concern independently for the entire UK and risk assessments and technical briefings are made available. The public health agencies do not hesitate to designate a new VUI or VOC when the evidence demonstrates this, and our surveillance is working effectively.

Information on how many disabled interns each NHS Board has hired in each of the last three years is not centrally held.

SEPA has not yet published information on its Compliance Assessment Scheme results for 2019 and expect to publish the results later this year. As such, no discussions have been held with SEPA or Ineos in relation to the assessment.

The draft result for Ineos Kinneil Terminal was included in the information stolen from SEPA in the cyber attack and was subsequently published in the press. The information stolen was an draft of this assessment - and had therefore not been subjected to all the necessary verification processes to finalise the assessment.

Table 1 provides information on average gross revenue expenditure in Scotland per pre-school registration, and primary and secondary pupil along with information on teaching allocations per college and university place (Average Teaching Grant Funding per FTE - including controlled SG funded places – expenditure on tuition fees and student support not included).

Scottish Ministers are fully committed to ending the practice of sending biodegradable municipal waste to landfill by 2025, in line with recommendations made by the Committee on Climate Change. By working to achieve our ambitious waste and recycling targets, we can ensure a transition to a fully circular economy and help to achieve our net zero commitments.

The implementation of the ban was delayed to 2025 to allow local authorities and the wider waste sector the necessary time to ensure full readiness and avoid unintended negative economic impacts, as highlighted by the Waste Markets Study (2019) . We are working to provide a centrally supported procurement solution to help local authorities secure alternative solutions to comply with the forthcoming ban. In addition, we will continue to engage with the commercial sector to support their preparation and input in to the delivery of the ban.

We recognise that the actions needed to become net zero by 2045 will transform all sectors of our economy and society. The Scottish Government is committed to a just transition, which is about ensuring that, as we reduce our emissions and respond to a changing climate, that journey is fair and creates a better future for everyone – regardless of where they live, what they do, and who they are. We are working with industry and businesses to maximise the opportunities and realise the benefits of a circular economy, identifying where there are opportunities to make transformational changes. We will ensure our transition to net-zero creates new opportunities for people across the country. For example, we are investing £100 million in the Green Jobs Fund which will provide support to businesses (and their supply chains) to help them better transition to a low carbon economy. In so doing, the Green Jobs Fund will boost green employment and create opportunities for individuals to retrain and upskill in new and high-growth areas.

We have no plans to monitor this Order. The comments received from statutory consultees at the time of making the Order confirmed that they were content with the proposal, providing the requirement for prior notification of the change remained in place, ensuring that any visual or environmental impacts resulting from the use of larger cages could be effectively managed under the planning process.

Whilst a specific date cannot be given for the publication of the NHS Recovery Plan at this time the Scottish Government have committed to publishing this plan within the first hundred days of the new parliament.

The NHS Recovery Plan will set out our plans to increase inpatient, day case, and outpatient activity by 10% supported by the implementation of sustainable improvements and new models of care.

As part of this, the Finance Secretary announced an additional £60 million earlier this year to help NHS boards address the pandemic induced backlog and remobilise services.

While further details are still being developed, the Plan will:

• Ensure patients who have been impacted by the pause in services receive access to the care they require.
• Improve patient pathways from primary through to secondary care – engagement with stakeholders and patients will be key to delivering this.
• Put in place additional staff to meet anticipated increase in hospital activity and new ways of working.
• Further invest in a network of National Treatment Centres which will provide additional capacity for elective care.

The UK Internal Market Act was imposed on the rest of the UK by the UK Government, despite the refusal of consent from the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments, and poses a direct threat to Scotland’s ability to exercise devolved decision-making across a wide range of devolved policy areas including environmental policy.

We are currently analysing the text of the Act to understand how it could interact with Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme.

It will be for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency as regulator of Scotland’s Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) to assess Circularity Scotland’s performance of its obligations under the DRS Regulations.

We are currently considering our approach to wider monitoring and evaluation of the operation of DRS.